The Ultimate Hot Chocolate (paleo, vegan, dairy-free options)

Made with just three ingredients, this ridiculously thick, creamy and rich hot chocolate is truly the ultimate hot chocolate. Looking for vegan, dairy-free or paleo hot chocolate? Check out the recipes notes at the bottom!

Last week, Joan of Chocolate, Chocolate and More went to sleep, complaining of stomach pain, and didn’t wake up. The autopsy revealed that Joan had had a heart attack. She left behind three children and a food blogging community who absolutely loved her.

I wasn’t close with Joan but I so appreciated her generosity. After she shared a few of my recipes on her Facebook page and I saw what a huge effect it had had on my traffic, I actually asked her if I could pay her to share more of my recipes (embarrassing, but true!) Her response?

“Sweetie, I love sharing from other bloggers, digging into archives and finding those fabulous forgotten about posts and my fans love them too. I don’t take payment for sharing. It’s just part of my giving back to the blogging community.”Photo by Shanna of Pineapple & Coconut

Anytime she shared a recipe on Facebook that wasn’t on her own blog, she basically gifted that blogger with a ton of traffic. Traffic (and therefore income) that she would have received herself if she would have posted a recipe of hers instead. I always thought that was so awesome.

I wanted to make the most decadent and chocolaty thing I could think of in Joan’s honor – this ultimate hot chocolate. Four years ago, I found this thick and rich homemade hot cocoa recipe on Sing For Your Supper.

If you go and read the comments on that post, you’ll see five very enthusiastic comments from me. I was obsessed with the stuff. Then I stopped making it because I have no self-control and consuming almost 2/3 cup of chocolate (as I’d often drink from my husband’s share) in one evening wasn’t the best habit.

The recipe basically consists of evaporated milk and chocolate (though I included a paleo, vegan, and dairy-free option in the recipe notes). That’s it.

Joan liked quick and simple and I’m sure she didn’t mind decadent. I thought I’d try adding some whipped cream to make it extra special but after going through a full cup of cream, trying to pipe it on just the right way, I decided Joan wouldn’t have cared. So I stopped.

And as I was going through her recipe archive the other day, I saw that Kahlua was her booze of choice. So I made the hot chocolate again and added Kahlua. I never got to meet Joan but I’m pretty sure she would have loved this hot chocolate.

I bet should would have even loved the paleo hot chocolate version! To make this hot chocolate paleo and vegan, just use coconut milk in place of the evaporated milk. So easy! And stil super decadent.

Joan was only 49 years old and seemed to be in good health. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the United States and the symptoms of heart attacks are different in women than in men. Please take a moment to read and share this article about heart attack symptoms in women.

Ingredients

optional add-ins: 1-2 tablespoons Kahlua (or another liqueur such as Frangelico or Amaretto) and / or 1/2-1 teaspoon espresso powder

milk, optional – to thin it down a bit

Directions

In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir together the evaporated milk and chocolate. Continue stirring until melted – about 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Let sit for 5 minutes and then serve. If it's too rich and thick, add milk to taste. This can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Notes

For a paleo, vegan and dairy-free version - you can make this with coconut milk. If you use dark chocolate, you can add coconut sugar or whatever sweetener you'd like. I've made this twice with coconut milk and with one brand, you could taste the coconut flavor. With the other brand, you couldn't. Make sure to use vegan / paleo-friendly chocolate.

I’m a hot chocolate addict from the UK. I have never heard of Joan or Kahlua, but I loved your story so had to try the ultimate hot choc as a tribute to Joan, who was obviously much loved. My favourite tipple is Baillies Irish Cream Liqueur, so I added a splash of this……….pure heaven!!! This will be my ‘go to’ night cap from now on.

I’ve also made this with Baileys and love it! So delicious. :) I’m so happy that you gave it a try and will be making it again. Kahlua is coffee-flavored liqueur and is super tasty – especially in this hot chocolate. Thanks for your nice comment and feedback!

Hi, which brand of coconut milk did you use, and if you don’t remember, is there any in particular you would recommend that don’t have a coconut-y taste? The only stuff I use coconut milk in is really strong (like curry) and I don’t use it often so I wouldn’t know.

Hello! I unfortunately live in Germany so my recommendations aren’t of any help. I’ve tried about a dozen brands of coconut milk and they all taste coconut-y. I think they all do! You can taste the coconut a bit in this hot chocolate so I wouldn’t recommend it if you don’t like the taste of coconut.

I remember Joan shared two of my recipes and my stats went through the roof for several days. To say Joan had the golden touch is an understatement. So sad that she was taken so soon. She will be missed by everyone who knew her. This hot chocolate has Joan’s name written all over it. She would have loved it. It looks amazing!

Love this tribute to Joan. She really was so generous and supportive of other bloggers, especially when it came to sharing on Facebook. I affectionately called that crazy spike in traffic the “Joan Effect”.
I think she’d have very much approved of adding a splash of Kahlua to this hot chocolate. After all, the only thing better than decadently creamy hot chocolate is decadently creamy hot chocolate with booze!

Don’t ever be embarrassed by that story. She loved helping others and seeing people get a boost in traffic. Made her as happy as the people she did it for. She would love this tribute. It’s just so sweet. And that hot chocolate is perfect.

I never met Joan either, but I was always amazed by how much she gave to the food blogging community, whether through sharing other’s content on Facebook or Pinterest, answering questions in various Facebook groups, or sharing her insightful wisdom. I’m sure she would’ve been touched by this recipe. It looks so decadent, and I think you piped on the cream just beautifully!

What a wonderful tribute to Joan. I never met her but she shared for me once on Facebook, and like you said, so much traffic! I felt like crying when I wrote her a thank you note. I love this hot chocolate and so would she!

Joan would’ve loved to be remembered this way. She also would’ve adored this hot chocolate. Her love and support for the food blogging community will be felt for years to come. She was one in a million.

My love for Joan runs hard and fast, and baby oh baby, so does my love for rich and creamy hot chocolate. This was a great choice for a recipe. Joan is smiling down upon us… and probably wishing you had added just a drop more booze. ;)